Forgetting Beca Mitchell
by griggles
Summary: Jesse and Chloe both love Beca. She doesn't know if she loves either of them back, so she leaves for Los Angeles just before her sophomore year. Will the two broken hearts she left behind find comfort in each other's arms?
1. Prologue

**So this is a story I've had rattling around in my head for a while, mainly because nobody else has taken a crack at it. Seriously, check the filters, I'm shocked by this. Somebody has to do it. Just to be clear, the first chapter is incredibly Beca-centric. This is NOT going to be a Beca story. Beca is a necessary foil, someone who will play a key role in the story, but this is not **_**her**_** story. That has to be emphasized, this is the story of the two hearts she broke by leaving. The first chapter exists only to set the stage, Beca will be gone after that. **

**Anyway, I'm using a narrative structure I'm not totally crazy about for the first chapter, but that's because it's going to cover the events of several months in one chapter. It probably won't be used going forward (though if people like it, it might), but for now it does what I need it to.**

** Also, do not take the fact that I'm starting a new story as the end of Fix Me, an update on that will come this weekend and that story will be seen through until the end. Anyway, enough rambling, enjoy and review!**

* * *

_May 3rd, 2012_

"I told you, endings are the best part."

"You're such a weirdo."

The kiss was intense, but still soft. The heat of the moment was not lost on either of them. But it was still cliché, the ending to a movie that would never be played.

* * *

_May 5th, 2012_

"Chloe... I... can't... breathe..."

"Oh right, sorry, I do that sometimes," Chloe laughed as he released Beca from a bone crushing hug.

"Do I need to pull out my Barden rape whistle?"

"Shush Beca, it takes two to hug."

"You keep saying that yet I don't ever remember giving you permission," the girls share a laugh.

"We won!" Chloe shouts, both arms raised above her head, "Woo!"

"Speak up Chloe, I don't think southern half of the state heard you."

"Woo!"

Beca rolls her eyes and laughs.

"I guess woo's are acceptable for the situation."

"You're damn right they are!" Chloe exclaims, "we won! We won! WE WON!"

"Are you sure? I could have sworn we came in fourth."

"Woo!"

"Can we stick you on some sort of giant hamster wheel that can power half of the country? I feel like we're not getting enough use out of your energy."

"Come on Beca get happy! It's our victory party! Take a drink from someone you've never met, dance like there's no tomorrow, do something you've never done like kiss a girl!"

Beca looked at her quizzically. Chloe responded just as curiously.

"For your information I have kissed a girl. But that's not important. I'm not exactly on the kissing people market right now."

Chloe's smile dropped. Not significantly, not enough for Beca the emotional barbarian to notice, but enough for a normal person to notice.

"So you and that Jesse kid are like... a thing?"

"We're... I don't know. We haven't really talked about it, but I mean... it's something."

"Sounds romantic," Chloe retorts sarcastically.

"Well I don't exactly know what I'm doing and I guess he wants to give me some space to sort this out. I mean what's the worst that can happen, it's not like I have a line of suitors ready to snatch me out from under him."

As in every movie where someone falls for their best friend, this was the part where she desperately wanted to tell her how crazy she sounded. How any guy (or redheaded girl) would jump at the opportunity to be with her. But like every crappy rom com in which this happens, the protagonist passes on her chance out of fear. She comes up with a flimsy excuse or jokey comment and hope the conversation ends up forgotten.

"Well... I think I need some juggle juice."

"Don't you mean jiggle juice?"

"It's a remix in honor of our victory, duh. I thought you of all people would catch it."

"Right."

"_Nice save,_" Chloe thought to herself. She'd simply stumbled over her words. Beca had a way of doing that to her.

* * *

_May 19th, 2012_

"I can't believe it's really here."

"I know. It feels like just yesterday I was dying my hair blonde the day before move in so I could 'start fresh,'" Aubrey says sarcastically, "God what was I thinking?"

"Oh come on you look great as a blonde. In fact I haven't known you any other way so it'd be weird if you changed it back."

"Still, you know the rules."

"'If I ever reveal Aubrey's natural hair color may my ovaries be stolen by a bum and sold on the black market,' yes 'Bree, I remember."

They share a laugh.

"I can't believe I'm leaving tomorrow. This place has been good to us. Part of me wishes I was staying here with you."

"You made your choice and I made mine," Chloe says gently, "you're gonna love Cornell. And I'm gonna be a phone call/Skype/emergency flight away."

"It's funny, maybe even a little ironic," Aubrey says, "I kind of always assumed you'd be the one to leave me. Like you'd snap out of whatever trance you've been in and realize the mistake you'd made."

"Nonsense," Chloe states firmly, "Aubrey, you're my best friend. If I could I'd shoot you with some kind of shrink ray and keep you in me pocket wherever I went," Chloe jokes, "we just wanted different things. You're gonna go off and be some billionaire super woman with an Ivy League degree and bikini ready body, I'm gonna be a teacher. There's no reason for me to go to some fancy school for my Master's, everything I need is right here at Barden."

"In other words, Beca is at Barden."

"Can we forget about that for just one night? This is supposed to be about you."

"We passed the 'forget about it for one night' phase four months ago when you came to me in tears that she waited 19 minutes to respond to one of your texts."

Chloe sighed. Aubrey was right, they were well past the point where it could be forgotten for a night.

"I don't know what to think anymore."

"Any updates on her and Jesse?"

"They're still 'figuring things out,'" Chloe says with air quotes, "of course she wouldn't just break my heart and let me be done with it. She has to drag this on."

"You know she wouldn't if you just told her how you feel."

"Because despite my previous statement I don't actually want to get my heart broken. I just sort of accept it as an inevitability."

* * *

_June 2nd, 2012_

"And that, my dear Mitchell, is why E.T. is one of the greatest movies in the history of the universe."

Beca perched her head up with a glazed look in her eyes, clearly unimpressed with what she just saw.

"Ehh."

"Ehh? What do you mean 'ehh?' Beca that was a piece of cinematic history right there!"

"You're not helping the 'Beca should watch more movies' cause if that's your selling point."

"You're ridiculous. Just ridiculous. We're spending three whole weeks on it in professor King's "classics of american film" class next semester."

"How thrilling for you."

"Speaking of which, what are you taking in the fall?"

Jesse was met with silence.

"Generally people answer when people ask questions Beca. That's like conversation 101."

"I haven't registered yet," Beca admits sheepishly.

"What? How is that even possible? I registered in like April."

"Well I didn't know if I was coming back and that was when the crap had just hit the fan with the Bellas and I couldn't exactly be bothered to deal with something as trivial as classes."

"Beca we have to go get you registered. Like, now."

"Relax, my dad's a teacher, I could burn down a dorm if I wanted to."

"Come on this is serious, we really have to go get you into classes. I mean how do you even know there are spaces in what you want to take."

"When what you want to take is literally any five random classes you don't have to worry about such things."

"Beca I'm pretty sure you can't major in random."

"Well that's the least of my concerns right now."

* * *

_June 11th, 2012_

"Another fight?" Chloe asked as she curled up on her couch next to Beca, who came over to hang out.

"We don't really fight. He yells, I nod."

"You understand how unhealthy that is right?"

"Come on Chloe you've met me."

"What does that even mean?"

"You know how I can be. This whole... relationship thing, it might not have been a great idea from the start."

"You mean with Jesse or just overall?"

"I don't know. Jesse's a great guy, I mean, if I can't make things work with him than how could I with anybody else?"

"Maybe he's just not the right person," Chloe says, slightly emphasizing her very deliberate choice to avoid a male pronoun.

"I don't know. I hardly care sometimes. I guess I'm just sort of apathetic towards this whole thing. If it works, it works, if it doesn't, I'll live."

Chloe cringed at Beca's words. She wanted to be happy about the fact that Jesse would apparently (in all likelihood) be out of the picture soon enough. But the way she was describing this whole situation was just so... depressing. She shook it off. This was good news. Jesse just wasn't the right person. She would be. When she got the chance.

* * *

_June 24th, 2012_

"Excuse me for not wanting to talk about this Jesse! It's kind of a big deal for me!"

"Yes! I get that! And _you're_ kind of a big deal to me. I want to help you with these things but you just keep pushing me away. Just talk to me Beca, I think I might be able to make you feel better."

"How many times have we been through this. I was eight years old. My dad was there one day, he was gone the next. Are you happy? Does that satisfy your need to interrogate me for the day."

"No, it doesn't! I'm being serious here Beca. Just tell me something, something that means something to you. How you felt maybe. Why can't you just give me that?"

"Because it hurts too damn much Jesse!" Beca says, fighting back tears, "it hurts too much to talk about how awful it feels to think that you're not even good enough for your own father. To think that he left because I was a horrible daughter. People always say that it wasn't my fault, but you know what? My parents were apparently doing well enough to have a kid before I came around, and then, poof, everything goes to hell. Are you happy now Jesse? Is that enough for you?"

Jesse didn't say a word, only moving in closer to hug her.

* * *

_July 4th, 2012_

"Beca! Hurry up, you'll miss the fireworks!"

"Jesus don't get your panties in a bunch, I'm coming."

Beca stepped outside to the porch of Chloe's family beach house, where she was spending the fourth of July with Chloe. Just the two of them.

"It still amazes me that you've never actually gone out of your way to see fireworks. You have so little magic and wonder in your life."

"Well that's what I have you for," Beca says, jokingly flirtatiously.

"Well someone's a charmer tonight," Chloe smiles seductively.

"Oh believe me, your worth it Ms. Beale."

"_You're freaking killing me,_" Chloe thought to herself.

"I'm still not entirely sure how you've managed to avoid fireworks for so long. I mean... they're fireworks! Do you keep a blindfold handy at all times just in case?"

"Well... I may not have been entirely honest about that."

"Go on."

"My... my parents got married on the fourth of July. Then my dad left late in June one year. My mom was always so devastated on the fourth after that. I guess it rubbed off on me."

"That's... so sad. I'm so sorry."

"Yea. Can we not talk about it anymore?"

"Ok."

The fireworks really were beautiful. They came in all shapes, colors and sizes. About halfway through the show Beca's dangling hand fell into Chloe's, who felt a cold shiver resounding through her body. Slowly, they inched closer and closer together.

"The fireworks really are beautiful aren't they?"

"Yea," Beca said softly, turning to face Chloe.

"Not as beautiful as you though."

Their faces continued moving towards each other. Time felt as if it was standing still.

"Or you."

Their lips met. It was brief, but passionate. Heated, but reserved. They both knew what they were doing was wrong, but on some level, Beca had to admit that it felt right. She just didn't know which outweighed the other.

* * *

_July 19th, 2012_

"You've barely touched your gyro."

"Remind me again why we're eating gyro?"

"Because the only place in town that will hire Benji to perform magic is the middle eastern restaurant right off campus and they can only pay him in food so we're trying to be supportive."

"I would've splurged on a pizza you know, we could've just told him we ate it."

"Not the point, both when it comes to Benji and when it comes to this. Something's wrong. Something's been wrong for a few weeks."

"I don't know what you're talking about I'm just sitting here trying to enjoy a gyro."

"Beca you don't have to do this."

"Do what?"

"What you always do. Pretend that nothing is wrong when it is. I'm your boyfriend. You can tell me things."

"Well so what if something is wrong, if it is I can deal with it myself."

"Well if the past two weeks are any indication you clearly can't."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You've been kind of unbearable since then. Pretty much since you got back from Chloe's beach house. You've been so cold and distant and it's agonizing. I want to fix this but I don't know how, just tell me what to do and I'll do it."

"You can leave it the fuck alone," Beca said, almost shouting as she stormed out of the room.

* * *

_July 23rd, 2012_

Chloe knocked. It was really her last resort. Beca hadn't responded to her texts. Or calls. She could only imagine the letter she slipped under the door was still sealed, likely sitting in a trash can or maybe even burned. This was her last resort. So she stood outside of Beca's door and knocked, prepared to do it all night long if she had to. After about 30 seconds the door opened to a dreary looking Beca.

"What do you want?"

"I want us to stop pretending nothing happened."

"Cutting right to the chase I see."

"Well lord knows I have to, you could storm off at any moment."

"I'm sitting here now aren't I?"

"We both know that's because you refuse to leave me alone with your mixing equipment."

"Touché."

"So can we talk."

"I don't see what there is to talk about."

"We kissed Beca, that's kind of a big deal."

"I have a boyfriend."

"But you still kissed me."

"I'm pretty sure it was you who kissed me."

"We kissed each other. It takes two to kiss Beca, and you didn't exactly stop me."

"You're right, it does take two to kiss. One of those two happens to have a boyfriend. End of discussion."

"Oh bullshit. This is ridiculous Beca, you wouldn't have kissed me if there wasn't some reason. So please, enlighten me."

"Because I don't know what I'm fucking doing! There! Are you happy now? I don't know what the hell I'm doing. I really like Jesse. I don't know whether or not I love him, but I definitely feel something. Then I'm with you and it's the exact same fucking thing and I have no idea what I should be doing about it, so in a moment of weakness I kissed you because I didn't know what else to do. Are you satisfied?"

"No, I'm not," Chloe said softly, "Beca you know how I feel about you. Like it or not, you just admitted that you feel the same way about me. If you felt that way about Jesse I don't think you'd feel it for me. You've dated for a few months and it hasn't worked, apparently I'm the reason why. It doesn't take a genius to see what this all means."

"I... I have to go. I have to think about all of this."

This is the part of the rom-com where the girl chases after the girl (assuming this is a lesbian rom-com) and tells her to stay. To talk. To figure this out together. But this is no movie. Chloe's figured that out by now.

"Ok, come find me when you're ready to talk about us."

* * *

_July 25th, 2012. _

"I must break you," Jesse says in a horrible Russian accent, "oh come on you know my Drago is spot on."

"Stellar," Beca rolls her eyes.

"I'd be offended but you just watched Rocky III and IV with me. That's like porn to a movie buff such as myself. Speaking of which," Jesse stood up, motioning to his bed with one hand and leaving the other to help Beca off of the couch, "see what I'm getting at?"

"I see, I'm just not in the mood."

"Oh," Jesse said sadly, looking every bit like a man who hadn't had sex in weeks.

"Geez kill the mood why don't you," Beca said sarcastically.

"Seriously? Me? You're the one who hasn't touched me since like... I don't even remember anymore."

"It's hard to feel sexy when all you do is pry into my private life."

"Is that so wrong? Why is it so hard for you to accept that I want to know more about you! We're in a relationship here! It's like every time we make any progress you immediately stop and go back to being moody for weeks on end. Am I doing something wrong Beca? Please just tell me how to fix all of this."

"I... I..."

"You what?"

"I don't know if it can be fixed."

"What? What do you mean."

"I think I have feelings for Chloe."

"What?"

"I don't know. It's just... it's confusing. And scary. And there are days when you're the only person I want to be with and others where I just feel like I need her and I have no idea what I'm doing. It's like I've fallen for two people and I have know idea which one is right for me."

"Why... why didn't you tell me earlier."

"Because I don't know what to do. Everything I felt for you that day we kissed in the auditorium was real. And it's still there. I just... she makes me feel the same way, and I don't know who I want to be with or if I should be with anyone at all and it's just... ugh... it's so frustrating. I wish there was an answer that could make everyone happy but there isn't."

"You're right, there isn't."

"So what do we do?"

"Well... I think there's only one thing we can do. I think you need to take some time to sort this all out. Come find me when you're ready to talk about us."

"Ok."

* * *

_July 30th, 2012._

It was 2:30 PM. Not that Jesse cared. His sleep schedule was the first thing to fall out of whack when he and Beca decided they needed some time to think. He knew she was coming back. She had to come back. She was his happy ending, the one he had spent the whole movie fighting for.

He stood up in only his pajama bottoms and stretched. He considered heading out to Starbucks for a cup of coffee, but the closest one to his summer dorm room was eight minutes away and he just wasn't prepared to make that kind of commitment. As he turned away from the door he noticed a small envelope sitting on the ground, likely having been slid right under the door. It was addressed to him with no return address. He opened it and began reading.

_Jesse, there's no easy way to say this, but I think I know what I have to do. I haven't been fair to you or Chloe, or even myself, and it's time I made amends. I'm doing it the best way that I know how, the only way that has ever really made sense to me. By the time you read this, I will be on a plane to Los Angeles. I have changed my cell phone number, deactivated my Facebook and informed my dad not to give you any of my contact information. I think this is what's best for everyone. I'm just sorry we didn't figure it out sooner. _

Sincerely Yours, Beca Mitchell.

* * *

_August 3rd, 2012. _

Chloe put down the letter, having read it virtually nonstop for the past several days. To say she looked like a mess was an understatement. Her eyes had become so stained with tears that even the least vigilant RA would assume she was smoking pot if they didn't know the truth. Her hair looked like one giant red ball of fur. She hadn't showered since she found the letter.

Aubrey was in upstate New York. Her parents too busy with work to comfort her for more than short periods. The other Bellas wouldn't return to campus for another 10 days. She was alone, nobody else on campus could help her.

Except for one person. One person who knew what she was going through. She obviously didn't relish the thought of speaking to him, but at the moment she didn't see any other choice. She needed something, _anything_, to help get her mind off of this.

So that's how she ended up standing outside of Jesse's door, wearing a casual outfit after a very moderate attempt to make herself look like a human being. There was no point in hiding it though, he would know why she looked so bad. In the minor recesses of her mind she hoped he'd look the same. With a deep breath, she knocked on the door.


	2. Chapter 1

**Hey guys. I'm not gonna make the quitting threat like I usually do when I'm unsatisfied with readership because I really do want to see this through, but come on let's pick up the pace! I'm a review whore and I'm not ashamed to admit it! Anyway, I'm gonna scrap the date narrative form for now and just go to a more traditional third person. In fact, I might go ahead and call chapter 1 the prologue because it really was just a set up. Anyway, Enjoy and review!**

* * *

Chloe stood outside of Jesse's dorm nervously, obsessively fiddling with a loose thread on her T-shirt as she partially hoped he wouldn't answer. After a few seconds, the door opened.

"Hi," Chloe stammered.

"Umm... hi," he responds, slightly confused.

"What's up?"

"Not much, Benji's not home so I'm just kind of hanging out."

"Cool... cool."

They stood there awkwardly for a few moments, neither looking the other in the eye, before Jesse finally broke the silence.

"So... sorry if I'm being a dick here, but you're kind of my least favorite person in the world right now. Forgive me if I'm not very friendly."

"It's ok, you're kind of high on my list too. I don't think either of us are blameless here."

"Really? Because I didn't try to steal someone's girlfriend."

Chloe stood there, completely frozen in silence.

"I didn't wait until she found someone else to make my move. I didn't push her away, _you_ did."

The tears started building in Chloe's eyes.

"What are you even doing here," he practically spat.

"I don't know, exactly," Chloe said, holding back the tears, "it's just... I'm not sure what to say. I know how hard it must be for you to look at me right now, and that's ok because it's pretty hard for me to look at myself, but it's just... I miss her Jesse. So much. And sure her dad might be upset and the other Bellas are gonna miss her now that she's gone but nobody else knows what it really feels like to... to love her... or to have her love you back," by now Chloe could not contain her sobs, "or how it feels now that she left, without even really saying goodbye and to just feel so alone and devastated and... broken... and it's just... I didn't know where else to go."

Jesse watched her cry in silence. For a brief moment, he took some small, perverse pleasure in it. This was her fault after all. Then his better judgement took over. This just looked... wrong. Chloe shouldn't cry. Besides, she was in just as much pain as him. It couldn't hurt to just talk to her for a bit.

"Why don't you come in," Jesse offered somewhat reluctantly.

"Really?" Chloe asked hopefully, still fighting through the tears. She was obviously somewhat surprised.

"Yea."

Jesse led her inside and headed for the kitchen while Chloe took a seat on the couch.

"Can I offer you something to drink?"

"No thanks."

"Good that was a bluff, Benji and I don't grocery shop."

Chloe laughs.

"But if you want two-thirds of a week old shish kebab it's all yours."

"Thanks but I think I'll pass."

"Your loss," Jesse jokes.

He heads towards the couch and takes a seat next to her, careful to keep a respectable distance as he essentially hugs the arm of the crappy dorm room couch.

"So..."

"Yea..."

"I'm not really sure where we go from here," Jesse says quietly.

"I don't either."

"Do we... talk?

"I guess we should."

The awkwardness sustains. Eventually Chloe decides she has to say something.

"So... how have you been doing?"

"Same as you I'd imagine," Jesse replies, "a lot of tears. A lot of sad songs. A lot of convincing myself she's not worth it and then breaking down and wondering if I'll ever find another person like her."

"She really is one of a kind."

"I just feel so... cheated. She went up on that stage and sang to me. Then she came into the stands and kissed me. That was supposed to be my happy ending. I was the one who sat their forcing conversation on her as we stacked CDs, I was the one who never minded dealing with all of her bullshit because deep down I knew how incredible she was. Apparently she felt the same way about me, but then she just runs off to LA the moment things get tough? I mean I just feel like I was robbed of a relationship I fought for and earned. It just doesn't feel fair."

"I get what you mean," Chloe offers, "I kind of always assumed she just needed space and time. But she had all of those walls and I was the one who slowly started tearing them down. Did she tell you why she joined the Bellas?"

"No," Jesse shook his head.

"It was the day before auditions. I was in the shower with some guy of the week, when I heard an incredible voice singing Titanium. It took me a minute, but I recognized her voice from the activities fair and knew I had to get her to audition. She got into the stall next to mine and I basically jumped her. I wouldn't leave until she sang with me. Then I told her to audition and she did."

Jesse started to chuckle lightly.

"Wow that's... I don't know if I should applaud you or call the police."

"It did the job, she came, and because of that we won the whole damn thing. That was just... kind of our thing. I'd do things that were completely inappropriate and she'd fight it at first, but then eventually she'd open up and let me in. I assumed it would be the same way romantically, that she just needed time to realize she felt the same way about me that I did about her. Then when the moment of truth came, she left. She left both of us."

They sat in silence for what must have been several minutes.

"So what do we do now?" Chloe asks.

"I think there's only one thing we can do."

"What's that?"

"We're going to get over Beca Mitchell. Together."

"Much easier said than done."

"Oh believe me it's not gonna be easy. It might take months. Hell, it might take years. I love her and honestly I keep expecting her to walk through my door any minute now and tell me what a big mistake she made. But deep down I know that won't happen. She's gone, and we're still here. And what you said earlier, it was totally true. We're the only people on this campus, hell, maybe in the entire world, who know what the other is going through. So really, we can either keep sitting around here and wallow in our own self pity, or, we can slowly start to pick up the pieces and move on with our lives. I don't know about you, but I know what I want to do."

"Jesse, I appreciate the sentiment, it's just... I think it's going to take some time. This isn't the kind of thing you just do overnight."

"How about this," Jesse suggested, "why don't you just say one thing, big or small, that you didn't like about her. We'll take baby steps. Just one thing you didn't like about her. It doesn't even have to be strongly dislike, just something that you didn't like."

Chloe pondered for a minute. Really, it was hard for her to come up with something. She'd spent the past few days idealizing Beca in her head so much that a flaw would be pretty hard to come by.

"Why don't I start," Jesse said, "Beca doesn't like movies. Like... at all. How can you not like movies? I mean, maybe that's something that somebody else could get over, but that was kind of a big deal to me."

"I tried to get her to watch _Titanic_ with me once. We didn't speak for two days after that. It's insane. I'm a pretty big movie person too, and I get not liking every movie, but at least be open to something!"

"I know! It was so frustrating. She was just kind of a buzz kill in that regard. It was always about the music. She was too busy brooding to really appreciate true art."

"Amen to that."

"So what do you think? Thought of anything yet?"

"I think so," Chloe said somewhat unsure of herself, "her laugh."

"Really? That's the sort of thing people usually list when they're telling someone why they love them, not dislike them."

"I know, it just... it kind of always bothered me. It sort of felt like she was in the audience at a taping of a sitcom, she'd laugh when the big neon sign told her to laugh. It never felt genuine. It's not like she never enjoyed herself. She did, though sometimes it was hard to get her to admit it. She just expressed it with a smile, and sure it was an amazing smile that I'm going to need years to forget, but it doesn't make up for all of that forced laughter. It almost felt like pity."

Silence enveloped the room once again, but this time it was comfortable. Eventually it was Jesse who broke the silence.

"Well... it was a start."

"You could say that."

"So... I guess we'll have to do this again some time?"

"I'd like that."

"I'd tell you when I'm free, but, well, you know as well as I do that I'm really just going to be in here doing nothing until school starts again."

"Ditto."

"So why don't we say this. Whenever one of us is feeling lonely or depressed or just plain down, which in reality is going to be quite often, we'll talk to each other. We can hang out, text, call, whatever works at the time. We'll work through this together as it comes."

"Sounds good to me."

Chloe turns around to leave, but stops suddenly.

"Oh, and Jesse?"

"Yea?"

She walks over to him quickly and wraps him up in a hug.

"Thank you. For being here, I mean. Most people would have turned me away and slammed the door in my face. It takes a really great guy to do what you did today, I really owe you for that."

"You're welcome. We've got a long road ahead of us, but I think sooner or later we'll be able to get through this."

And for the first time since Beca left, Jesse could say those words and actually believe them.


	3. Chapter 2

**To those of you who are reading, you're awesome and I hope I'm rewarding you guys with a good story. Still, I am getting kind of annoyed at the lack of readership here. I mean, ****_What Happens Next_**** got more reads today than this story has in total and I finished that over a month ago. Kind of frustrating, but I guess people aren't as into this character combination. Really, it's an experiment. Anyone who knows me from my other stories knows I'm a Bechloe person. So basically, if you're in communication with other readers, inform them of this story! Anyway, enough of my babbling, here's the chapter, enjoy and review!**

* * *

Chloe hadn't yet taken up Jesse's offer to talk to her whenever she was feeling down. It had been two days, and she obviously wasn't doing very well, but it just seemed... awkward. It's not exactly easy to just completely put yourself out there to somebody you barely know. Apparently he felt the same way, as he hadn't done it to her either. Still, she wanted to try this. If nothing else, it might distract her for a bit.

_"Are you busy?" _Chloe asked Jesse over text.

_"Benji says I haven't been social enough lately. He's forcing me to play Mario Kart all day."_

_"That's social to you guys?"_

_"It's a bonding thing between two roommates. I'm sure you had it with Aubrey."_

_"We did, but we never considered video games social."_

_"Well I guess we just have different rituals. You do... whatever it is that women do, we lock ourselves in a room and play video games all day."_

_"Whatever it is that women do? Someone's being a bit sexist today lol."_

_"Would it make it better if I invited you to join us?"_

_"Well now it just feels like tokenism."_

_"Nonsense, Benji always beats me, I need someone worse than me to make me feel good about myself."_

_"Still sexist, but alright, I'll be there in half an hour?"_

_"Sounds good to me. And bring Mountain Dew."_

_"?"_

_"We run through it very quickly."_

_"Lol ok, I'll see you in a bit."_

* * *

"It's not fair! My guy won't move!"

"That's probably because you slammed into the wall," Jesse joked.

"You might want to stop accelerating. I mean if you slammed into a wall in real life would you accelerate to get away?"

"Did you really just compare this game to real life? How often is your car hit with turtle shells?"

"More often than you'd think. It happened twice last year alone."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Basically, never drive next to Bumper. He may or may not have a collection of turtle shells in his backseat that he uses to throw at people for fun."

"I can't tell if you're being serious or not."

"He's being completely serious, my car still has a pretty big dent in it that he refused to pay for," Benji jumped in.

"You guys are ridiculous. Wait, my guy is moving. My guy is moving! Alright let's win this thing!"

"Should we tell her we finished the race like 45 seconds ago?" Benji whispered to Jesse.

"No let's let her have this," Jesse responded.

"One lap down, two to go!"

* * *

"What just happened?" Benji asked Jesse, dumbfounded.

"I think we just lost to a girl. Seven times in a row."

It was true. After her initial missteps Chloe turned out to be a Mario Kart savant. It didn't take her too long to figure out the game and once she did the guys didn't stand a chance. Well, they did, but Jesse really found it cute how excited she was getting so he may have taken a dive or two.

"Oh come on boys, don't think of it like that. Just accept the fact that you lost to a superior driver."

"I feel like we might lose our man cards over this. At least nobody outside of this room knows."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Chloe said mischievously.

"What did you do?"

"Check your Facebook."

Jesse pulled out his phone and went on Facebook. Sure enough, there was a new status from Chloe Beale.

"Just DESTROYED Jesse Swanson and Benji Applebaum at Mario Kart. And they say chicks can't play video games :)."

"So where do we pick up our new vaginas?" Jesse asked jokingly.

"Well I got mine at the Vagina Mart downtown, but really you can't go wrong with any of the leading brands," they laughed.

"So are we gonna make it eight in a row?"

"Can't," Benji replied, "I'm meeting my parents for dinner and I should probably start getting ready."

"So I guess that just leaves you and me Beale. You can keep humiliating me, we can do something else, or we can call it a day. Your call."

"Hmm... I think I've proven my point here, but I am getting kind of hungry. Do you wanna grab something to eat?"

"We have Falafels!" Benji shouts from his room.

"He really wants to unload that doesn't he?" Chloe questions.

"I haven't eaten American food in... I don't even know how long. Let's go get something that's been deep fried and dipped in melted cheese."

* * *

"I'm just saying that the economics of it all don't make sense."

"Yes but you have to be the only person in the world who's thinking about it."

"Oh nonsense I'm sure there's some doctoral candidate at Princeton writing his thesis about it."

"I'm like 99% sure that's not true."

"Just admit that I'm right. The economics of video games make no sense! What is the transfer rate of a gold coin in Mario vs. the rings from Sonic the Hedgehog? There's no consistency there! And by the way, how do they pay their rent? Do they just hand them the money? Can they deposit it in a bank? I feel like my bank wouldn't accept deposits in the form of giant gold coins."

"I think it's pretty obvious what they do, they sell the coins and rings to cash-for-gold places for pennies on the dollar. That's why Mario can only afford to buy overalls."

"Oh my god you're a genius," Jesse said in playful awe. That's how their conversation went. They joked about random topics and just generally tried to enjoy themselves. Still, there was still the Beca sized elephant in the room that needed to be addressed. After a moment of silence, Jesse spoke up.

"So how have you been doing?"

"I'm guessing this means we're off video games for now?"

"You would be correct. Seriously though, feeling any better?"

"Honestly, not really."

"I can't blame you. I still feel like crap."

"So much for getting over her right?"

"It's been two days. We'll get there," Jesse says reassuringly.

"I hope so. I mean, I did have fun today," she smiles.

"Me too. Even if you did completely emasculate me."

"So any new bright ideas about how to start getting over her?"

"Not really. We can laugh at the fact that she's probably sleeping on some grimy dude's couch right now though."

"Well that sounds like fun."

* * *

"So... Chloe's awesome," Benji said as he plopped down on the couch next to Jesse.

"Yea, she's cool," Jesse said kind of absentmindedly.

"We should hang out with her more often."

"I think we will."

"So you're really cool with all of this? I mean, after everything that happened?"

"Kind of. I think it'll take some time to fully adjust. For now though, I guess it's nice to have someone who really understands what I'm going through."

"I guess, but it just seems kind of odd. I don't ever remember seeing a movie where the two rejected enemies become friends after the girl they're both chasing leaves."

"Well, I guess we're writing our own script then."

* * *

_"Still awake?" Chloe texts Jesse._

_"Yea but I can't talk."_

_"Party pooper :( why not?"_

_"I'm setting up the Treble's booth for the activities fair tomorrow."_

_"That's tomorrow?"_

To be fair Chloe had sort of lost track of time. Though hanging out with Jesse almost constantly made things easier, she was still in a very depressed state.

_"Yup."_

_"Why are you doing this at 2:00 AM?"_

_"So I won't have to wake up tomorrow morning to do it, duh."_

_"You're such a genius, imagine me rolling my eyes right now."_

_"I'm gonna ignore that last part and just thank you for the compliment. You're more than welcome to come join me."_

_"Jesse it's 2 in the morning."_

_"But I'm lonely :(."_

"_Fine, but if I leave after two minutes you have no right to be mad._"

"_I wouldn't have it any other way._"

Chloe dragged herself out of her room, throwing on only a hoodie to match her sweatpants as she made the arduous journey to the quad. In truth it was only a few minutes away, but making that walk so late at night really didn't help.

"Wow you actually came," Jesse says with a surprised smile.

"Did you really doubt it?"

"Well it's hard to be sure of anything at this hour. At least I'm almost done."

"The booth looks nice though."

"Thanks, you know I'm actually quite the carpenter."

"Really?"

"Well... I built a TV rack from Ikea once."

"My God how do you not have a home improvement show?" Chloe gasps, feigning shock.

"I had a holding deal with ABC but talks broke down when they wouldn't give me a producing credit. They ended up hiring Tim Allen and that's how _Home Improvement_ happened."

"So you were going to star in a TV show that aired before you were born?"

"I'm just that talented."

"I guess so, I mean you did finish in _second_ place at the ICCA finals last year," Chloe says, emphasizing the word second.

"Oh a trash talker I see? Well we won every other tournament so I think I'm ok."

"We won the one that counts so... suck it," Chloe jokes. They share a laugh.

"Speaking of which, what's going on with the Bellas booth?"

Chloe froze.

"Shit."

"Shit? What's shit? That doesn't sound good."

"Well... I kind of haven't told the girls that Beca's gone. I think they think she'll handle it. You didn't mention it to any of them by any chance did you?"

"Chloe I haven't even changed my relationship status on Facebook yet."

"Oh crap, what are we gonna do?"

"We? Who's we? I was on the _second_ place team remember?"

"Come on I'm being serious."

"Fine. What do you want to do?"

"I'll call the other girls and see if anyone's here and awake."

"Ok."

Chloe spent the next few minutes going through every Bella in her phone book. No responses.

"Nobody picked up," Chloe despaired.

"Well, I guess we're doing this ourselves."

"Really? You'd stay out here with me and set up another booth at this hour?"

"Well you didn't think I'd just leave you out here alone did you? Come on, I'm not _that_ awful."

"Thanks Jesse, this means a lot."

"No problem, now come on, I'd like to get to sleep before the sun comes up."


	4. Chapter 3

**Two quick thank you's before we start: I really want to give a shout out to reviews MariSnow for a really awesome and thorough review and LetTheInkDry for consistently supporting this story. All other reviewers are appreciated (and may get shout outs later on), but those two have really helped keep this story going. Anyway, enough about that, here's Chapter 4 (or 3 if I decide on calling Chapter 1 a prologue). Enjoy and review!**

* * *

"Hi are you interested in joining our a capella group?" Chloe asked a group of passing freshmen, none of which even stopped to acknowledge her greeting. It had been a frustrating afternoon, so far only three new girls had signed up to even audition. Considering the girls that needed to be replaced (Chloe, Aubrey and Beca, pretty much the cornerstones of the group), she'd hoped to garner a bit more interest.

It certainly didn't help that she was manning the booth alone. None of the other girls had even bothered to respond to her text messages. She wasn't even technically a member of the group anymore, she was just doing this as a favor to her friends. They certainly weren't doing much to pay her back.

"How's it going," Chloe heard a familiar voice approaching.

"Not very well."

"I can tell, shouldn't you be home, sleeping right now?"

"None of the other girls responded."

"Ouch. How many sign ups have you gotten?"

"Three."

"Well at least you have enough to fill your open spots."

"Jesse we don't even know if they can sing."

"Well... you don't know if they can't sing do you?"

"You're a genius you know that?"

"I try."

"Speaking of sign ups, shouldn't you be dealing with your own?"

"Don't need to," Jesse replied, pointing towards the swarm of people crowded around the Treble table, "we already have 59 sign ups."

"Lucky you," Chloe grumbled, "they do know WE won the national championship last year right?"

"Well everyone knows that a capella is a man's game," Jesse smiles awkwardly, not wanting to reveal his true suspicions.

"That, or a short brunette's game," Chloe said despairingly.

"I didn't want to say anything, but I'm guessing that might have something to do with it. Oh well, you guys still have a solid group. I'm leaving the Trebles in the trusty care of Benji so I can go take a nap, will I see you at auditions?"

"Probably, it's not like I can trust the other girls. They're tomorrow right?"

"Yea."

"Why so soon?"

"Beca and I agreed to it over the summer."

"Oh."

"Yea, well that's a buzz kill. I'll see you tomorrow then."

* * *

It was 7:57 PM, three minutes before Chloe's arranged Skype date with Aubrey. They had spoken since Beca left, but not as much as Chloe would like. Aubrey was just so busy. Now would be a good time to catch up on everything. She logged on to see Aubrey's icon indicating that she was too. She clicked on call and saw as Aubrey and her golden blonde hair emerged on the screen.

"Chloe!"

"I do NOT have the energy for that kind of enthusiasm tonight," Chloe complained.

"Why?"

"Because I haven't slept in... 30 hours? Something like that."

"What kept you up?"

"I had to set up the Bella's booth for the activities fair today since none of the other girls responded to my texts. I set it up late last night and then ran it all morning. If it weren't for Jesse I wouldn't have been able to get it up at all?"

"Jesse?"

"Yea, we've been hanging out a lot lately."

"Isn't that awkward?"

"Not really, he's actually really cool. He says we're gonna get over Beca together."

"Is it working?"

"Not at all," Chloe sighs.

* * *

"I don't believe you," Cynthia Rose said to Fat Amy as they walked into the auditorium for auditions.

"You don't have to believe me, it doesn't change the fact that I killed a grizzly bear with my bare hands, and yes, pun intended. Wait is that Chloe?"

Chloe ran over and was wrapped in an enormous hug.

"Red! What are you doing here? Did you flunk your classes last semester so you could stay with us?"

"Amy you were at my graduation."

"Well... it might have been a dream."

"Nope, I'm just here as a friend."

"Speaking of which, where's the munchkin so we can get started."

Chloe looked away nervously, having not broached the subject with any of the other Bellas since they arrived. Sensing her hesitation, Jesse jumped in, standing up from his seat.

"Beca's not coming back to Barden this year."

There were gasps throughout the room.

"What happened?"

"Where is she?"

"Did she die?"

In turn, Chloe sensed Jesse's discomfort and responded.

"She just decided that she didn't want to be here, end of story."

There were some awkward glances and a definite silence, but the girls chose not to ask anymore questions, instead only voicing their disappointment at not even being told what happened. Chloe and Jesse definitely knew where they were coming from.

The short a capella leader guy (whose name neither Chloe nor Jesse actually knew) came up and gave his spiel. Then, he gave the floor to the Bellas to pick the audition song. Without thinking, Fat Amy jumped in.

"Titanium by David Guetta!"

Chloe cringed.

"Are you sure you want to use that song?" Jesse asked.

"Jesse it's fine," Chloe said obviously uncomfortably.

"If you're sure," he mumbles.

* * *

"Oh my god this should not be so hard," Stacie complained, banging her head against the table.

"Come on guys, you heard six people, you should easily be able to pick three," Chloe tried to reason.

"What did you guys think about the Asian girl?"

Lilly stared daggers at the other girls. That idea was quickly shot down.

"I don't see why you guys didn't like the girl with the braces," Cynthia Rose offered.

"Because her voice sounded metal," Stacie replied.

"What does that even mean?" Chloe asked.

"She just did ok!"

"Ok, calm down. Did anybody else like the ginger?"

"We've already filled our ginger quota," Amy joked.

"You know I'm not technically part of the group."

"Yea, but you are, like, in spirit."

"So does that mean I get a vote here?"

"It might save us some time," Cynthia Rose opined.

"And she has been doing this longer than us," Jessica said.

"Great, so you're taking the girl with braces, the ginger, and the girl with the dragon tattoo."

A few voices jumped in to object before Chloe quickly calmed them down.

"Remember, if you reject this we might be here all night."

Grumbles were heard throughout the room.

"All in favor of ratifying Chloe's picks?" Cynthia Rose surveyed.

A chorus of "aye's" filled the room.

* * *

Initiation was... normal. Therefore, by Bella standards, it was horribly unconventional. There were no kidnappings. There was no oath. Chloe had to silently cringe as she watched Amy and Stacie text the new girls to meet them before the aca-initiation party. Once there, they basically just introduced themselves, spent a few minutes chatting, and then headed off for the party. Maybe it was her generally down mood of late, but Chloe was completely disgusted.

"Chloe Beale!" Jesse shouted with a drink in his hand.

"Drunk already? We just got here you know. You must be kind of a lightweight."

"Oh relax Mother Theresa, this is my first drink, maybe I'm just excited to see you."

"Well you sure know how to flatter a girl Swanson, now aren't you gonna offer me a drink?"

"I'm not your butler get it yourself," Jesse said jokingly.

"Well I never," Chloe joked with her mouth agape, feigning disgust.

"Come on I'll walk you down to the keg."

"Such a gentleman," Chloe playfully rolled her eyes.

"So the new girls seem nice."

"Thank you, I picked them."

"How'd that happen?"

"You should have seen them in there. It was like a pack of wild animals throwing verbal poop at each other. Eventually I convinced them to just let me pick. I'm worried about them though. Those girls need a leader."

Jesse laughed.

"Something funny?"

"Sorry, maybe it's the booze, it's just, well, how do you not see it?"

"Not see what?"

"_You_ should be their leader!"

"Me? You know I'm not even technically allowed to be in the group."

"You don't have to be in the group. You have to lead the group. You can be their coach!"

"Do you really think I could do it? I mean I know I was technically a leader last year, but it was really Aubrey running the show. Then at the end of the year Beca took over. I've never held the pitch pipe."

"Well, if not you then who else? I mean, you're the one who set up the booth in the middle of the night. You're the one who recruited all of your new members. You're the one who calmed them down when they couldn't agree. I mean, isn't that what a leader is supposed to do?"

"I guess."

"Besides, it might help you get your mind off of things, I mean, besides classes and me do you have anything else going on?"

"You make me sound like such a loser when you say it like that."

"If you're a loser then so am I because that's basically my life now except with the Trebles. You can take the Bellas. We'll be aca losers together!"

"So you really think this is a good idea?"

"Of course I do! They need you, you need them. It's perfect!"

Chloe thought about it for a moment.

"I'll do it. I'll talk to the girls about it tomorrow"

"Woohoo!"

"What are you woohooing at? Your competition just got better."

"I know, and I'm not thrilled about that, it's just," Jesse paused, trying to find the right words, "it doesn't feel right when you're unhappy. It's like seeing a puppy sitting alone in the rain. You just want to take it home and make it feel better. Things are better when you're happy."

Chloe smiled.

"Wow, that was actually really sweet. Thanks Jesse."

"No problem, now let's go get so drunk that we wake up in a ditch tomorrow."

* * *

**Just two things I think you might enjoy, first of all, I considered having Kimmy-Jin audition and saying that the only reason she didn't last year was because of Beca, but that just felt like an unnecessary subplot to uphold. Second, I thought about having Jesse ask Chloe to be his wingwoman with the new ginger, causing Chloe to get silently jealous, but it doesn't really fit in with what I want to do with the rest of this story. Anyway, thought you'd like to know. **


	5. Chapter 4

I don't have anything really significant to say, just enjoy and review!

* * *

"Come on Lilly just follow my movements," Chloe breathed, frustrated at how hard this was. It had been two weeks since she took over captainship of the Bellas, and she really never gave Aubrey enough credit. This was a much harder job than she thought. Aside from the fact that these girls just didn't seem to have the same work ethic as last year, they really were a bunch of misfits. At least last year Chloe and Aubrey were able to set the tone of a number with their poise and experience, and even Beca came in very handy with her underrated dance moves and strong voice. Their was a definite lack of talent this year, not insurmountable, but it was definitely going to make toppling the fully loaded Trebles a more difficult task.

"Now you're starting to get it, alright guys time for cardio," Chloe announced to a chorus of groans.

"Oh come on Chloe be reasonable," Fat Amy whined.

"I'm serious guys, we have to stay in shape. Come on, I don't even get to perform and I'm still doing it with you."

"Yea but you have the body of one of those statues at museums that don't have arms but they're like... really fit, and their boobs are showing," Fat Amy argued, gesturing to her breasts as she closed. Chloe was... somewhere between surprised and confused at that compliment.

"Umm... thanks?

"Exactly! So we don't need to do cardio because you're already in shape."

"Just quit complaining, _Patricia_," Chloe practically spat, albeit jokingly. The girls all grumbled as they took their places at the stairs, ready to run. Suddenly, Jesse walked in.

"This is a private practice Jesse," Chloe said.

"But I'm bored."

"Shouldn't you guys be practicing?"

"We practice at night."

"Why?"

"Bumper liked to bother people with the noise. I just don't want to break tradition."

"Well I'm sorry but your boredom will have to wait. We're busy."

"Come on, let's have a dance off or something."

"No, you'd get served."

"That's never stopped me before," Jesse said hopefully, which made Chloe wonder just how many dance offs he'd had over the course of his life.

"No, if you leave now I'll come over when we're done."

This was met with a series of hoots and whistles.

"Oh settle down you people I didn't mean it like that."

"Yea, I'm not even into redheads anyway."

"Hey!" Jenny, the new ginger shouted.

"Well, except for you obviously."

"Well now I'm just plain offended" Chloe huffed.

"Oh come on Chloe you know I think you're the tits," this elicited a small laugh from her.

"Just leave, I'll see you later."

* * *

"Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!" Jesse and Benji shouted together. Benji gave rock, Jesse used scissors.

"Ok that's 79 to 71. We're going to 100 right?"

"That's the plan."

"Don't you have work to do or something?"

"Don't be ridiculous Benji, I'm a music major."

"Don't I have work to do then?"

"Theater major."

"Damn, we really do get bored too easily. Maybe we should start practicing more."

"Eh, we'll be fine. Besides, Chloe's coming over in a bit so that'll shake things up a bit."

"You've been hanging out with Chloe a lot lately."

"Yea."

"Has it been helping?"

"Kind of. Not really. She's cool though. Definitely a good friend. I'd say I was glad I got to know her if not for the circumstances. Anyway why are we always talking about me and my broken heart, what's going on between you and Amy?"

"I... I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh bullshit I saw you guys at aca initiation night. There was some definite... chemistry."

"She was wasted."

"But you weren't, were you?"

"Well... no."

"Go ask her out, come on man, one of us should have a girl in their life. Otherwise we're just two losers playing rock paper scissors on a Wednesday afternoon."

"Point taken. I'll think about it."

"Good, now I'm gonna hop in the shower really quickly before Chloe comes."

"Ok, I'll be out here. I guess I'll watch some TV."

"Ok, if she gets here before I'm out just let her in."

Benji gave a slight nod and sound in agreement before flicking on the TV and channel surfing. Eventually he landed on TMZ. He wasn't normally the type to watch that, but there really wasn't anything else on and he was planning on leaving when Chloe showed up anyway. Benji was a lot of things, but he definitely wasn't a cock block. Even if Jesse didn't know that's what he was thinking. After a few minutes he heard a knock on the door.

"Hey Benji," Chloe said with a smile.

"Hi Chloe. Jesse's in the shower and I'm actually on the way out, but I left the TV on so just hang out and he'll be out in a few minutes.

"Ok, thanks."

"Mhm," Benji grunted as he walked out. Chloe sat down on the couch and focused on the screen. She didn't watch too much TMZ, but she wasn't above grabbing a tabloid magazine every now and then. She liked to keep up with what celebrities were doing even though she never understood the cultural obsession with them.

"Welcome back to TMZ, our top story today, the mysterious brunette seen leaving Opera, the nightclub, with hip hop artist Drake two weeks ago has finally been revealed."

Suddenly, a picture came up on the screen and Chloe froze. Apparently, the girl seen leaving a nightclub with Drake was none other than Beca Mitchell. As soon as the picture came up, Jesse emerged from the bathroom wearing a bathrobe.

"Hey Chloe," he said, surprised not to hear a response, "is something wrong?"

Chloe, eyes filled with tears, simply pointed at the screen. Jesse followed, his heart dropping as soon as he saw.

"This is 19-year-old Beca Mitchell, an aspiring DJ and potentially, the new woman in Drake's life. Apparently she just arrived in LA a few weeks ago. Talk about good luck."

Chloe remained silent.

"Drake? Are you fucking kidding me?"

Chloe's sobs became audible.

"Fuck I don't even know what to say."

"I... I think I should go," Chloe choked out.

"Yea, I think so too, I'll be here," Jesse said, sounding almost emotionless. Even though he knew Chloe understood his pain, he didn't want to show her just how badly this hurt. As soon as she left, he went into his room and slammed the door behind him.

* * *

"Are you fucking kidding me? I mean of all things, she gets to LA and fucks a celebrity? That... whore!"

"I think you're overreacting," Benji tried to reason.

"Overreacting? OVERREACTING! You're under reacting! She leaves, breaks up with me, breaks both my and Chloe's hearts, and to do this? How could she do that to us? I mean, how is there a level of reacting that you consider too high for this?"

"Funny that you'd mention Chloe."

"What do you mean?"

"It's just, you've got a million reasons to hate her, yet you bring up the girl who kind of screwed things up for you."

"It's not that simple."

"Isn't it though? I mean, I don't know how well things would be going, but you'd probably still be together if not her. Yet you seem just as mad for her as you do for her."

"Look, I know Beca and I... had our issues, but I just figured she cared enough about both of us to at least... hell... I don't know what I expected. Just not this. I know I should be mad at Chloe. I really wanted to be mad at Chloe. But... well you've met her. Objectively this is her fault, but she was just doing what I would have done. What anyone would have done if they were in love. So don't drag her into this. Can't you just be a normal best friend who tells me stuff like 'you're right bro, she's such a bitch!' Would that be too much to ask?"

Benji sighed internally, completely unable to believe that Jesse was missing the point. Whatever, he'd get there eventually.

"You're right bro, she's such a bitch!"

"See, that's the best friend I was looking for!"

"So who's doing this for Chloe?"

Jesse stopped for a moment to think.

"I don't know. Maybe Aubrey? I'm not even sure, they barely talk anymore."

"Could she be alone."

Jesse's face sunk even more than it had before.

"Maybe. Damn, I feel like such an ass. I should go talk to her and see how she's doing."

"Probably, worst case you can always look her in the eye and say, 'you're right bro, she's such a bitch!'"

"Good to know I can always count on you in times of need Benji," Jesse said somewhat sarcastically.

"Just go."

* * *

Chloe was locked in her room, sobbing. That's how she'd been since she saw Beca on TMZ. After several hours, she heard a knock on her door. She had no idea who would be there, but she dragged herself out of bed to find out. She opened the door to see a pretty sullen looking Jesse. Apparently, he was taking this just as hard as she was.

"Hey," he said quietly.

"Hi."

They stood in awkward silence for a moment before Jesse broke it.

"So... I guess she's not sleeping on some grimy dude's couch huh?"

"Not off to a great start Jesse," Chloe retorted, clearly not amused.

"Can I come in?"

"I guess."

Jesse takes a seat on the couch and Chloe follows.

"Any reason you're here?" Chloe asks, slightly jaded.

"I just didn't think you should be alone."

"What makes you think I'd be alone?"

"Well, I'm not wrong am I?"

"I guess not."

"I just... I know things have been hard for you. They've been hard for me too, but my best friend is here. I can't imagine what I'd be doing if Benji left, so I know Aubrey being gone sucks. I just figured you might like some company."

Chloe's stance softened a bit, almost leading to a smile.

"Thanks Jesse, that's really sweet."

"You're welcome. Now come on, let's go get several tubs of ice cream and cry ourselves to sleep."

* * *

"It's 4 AM, why are you just walking in now?"

"I was with Chloe most of the night."

Benji had assumed as much, though given what he thought they'd be doing he didn't think Jesse would bother coming home.

"You couldn't have just slept there?"

"I'm not sleeping on her couch."

"Why now? What were you doing that led to coming back this late?"

"We ate ice cream and watched sad movies. It was like a girl's night only I'm not a girl."

"I'm losing confidence in that statement every time you see her."

"Oh shut up. I just didn't want to leave her alone until she fell asleep."

"Someone's a gentleman."

"I'm sorry I wanted to be a good person. She's not doing well you know."

"Neither are you."

"Yea, but she's... alone. At least I have the Trebles and you. Aubrey is all the way up north and I know it must suck."

"Well, at least nobody will ever be able to look at you and say, 'you're right bro, he's such a bitch.'"


	6. Chapter 5

**I don't feel like typing this out again, but if anyone wants to weigh in on what I write next (after this and Fix Me are both done), Chapter 9 of Fix Me has the new ideas at the bottom. Anyway, time to raise the stakes a little bit. I'd initially wanted a chapter of... well... I guess fluff... but there's nothing to fluff... so just something, between chapter 5 and this, but ultimately this was just the only way to do it. Anyway, enjoy!**

* * *

Jesse had spent an unholy amount of time searching down the information he now held in a DVD. He had to say he was quite proud of his work, in only four short days he'd managed to find an online exclusive interview with Beca that contained the truth about her relationship with Drake. How they managed to get a hold of her, he wasn't sure. Why she agreed to such an interview, he had no idea. But the information was now out there. He had to know the truth, and to be fair, so did Chloe. That's why he was furiously knocking on her door with his free hand.

"Jesse it's 1:30 in the morning can't this wait?"

"I found it," he says excitedly.

"What the hell are you talking about," she says groggily, clearly she just came out of bed.

"The truth about Beca. I know what she was doing with Drake."

"What?"

"I burned it onto this DVD, let's go watch."

"Who still burns things onto DVDs?"

"Excuse me for being nostalgic," Jesse grumbles. He slips the DVD into her computer and waits for it to come on. When it does, Beca is seated across from a taller, somewhat overweight woman.

_"Hello viewers, thank you for tuning into our exclusive interview with Beca Mitchell, a.k.a, Drake's newest fling."_

_"That's not true," Beca grumbles._

_"Really? So we didn't see you leaving the club with him?"_

_"Oh you did, but we're not involved or anything."_

_"That's what they all say honey."_

_"I'm serious! That's the only reason I came on here today, to set the record straight."_

_"So what were you two doing together that night?"_

_"It's actually a funny story," she says, mood slightly raised, "I had just moved out here and I was trying to get club owners to listen to some of my work. I'm a DJ. I paid off the bouncer to let me in, but nobody would hear me out after that. That's when I ran into Drake. I told him about myself and he listened to some of my music, and he loved it. Now we're working together on his new album. It's really one of those amazing Hollywood stories."_

_"Really? So there is nothing going on between you and Drake?"_

_"Nothing, it's totally professional."_

_"Well, you heard it here first people. We can leave Beca Mitchell alone, she is not dating Drake."_

_"Well, I will say this whole thing has done wonders for my career. So maybe, don't leave me entirely alone."_

_"Wise words from one of LA's newest DJs, thank you for speaking to us Beca."_

_"No problem, I'm glad we could sort all of this out."_

Jesse shut the laptop after that.

"So at least there's that, she's not dating a celebrity."

Jesse was surprised to see Chloe's mood not change in the slightest.

"Come on Chloe this is good news!"

"Is it?"

"Well... I kind of thought so."

"Does it really do anything for us though? She's still gone. She's not coming back. And so what if she did? We'd end up fighting each other to the death over a girl who's not interested in either of us."

Jesse's limited smile faded.

"Well... thanks for killing my mood," he grumbled.

They sat in silence for a moment, taking in each other's sadness.

"What are we gonna do Jesse?"

"I guess we'll just to have to start trying harder."

"That's not exactly how this works Jesse."

"Come on Chloe. We can't just sit around and mope. There has to be something we can do."

"When you figure out what, let me know."

* * *

Jesse plops down on the couch after an unnecessarily long and boring day of classes. So far, his quest had come up empty. Not that he was surprised. He never expected an easy fix, but this wasn't like any other breakup he'd been through. It was just so... unresolved. There wasn't a big confrontation, there was a note. He didn't get a chance to fight for the girl, she just walked away. Now he was stuck here, forced to live with all of the memories of the girl who broke his heart. They weren't going anywhere, but she did.

"Life sucks doesn't it?" Jesse remarks.

"I can see why you'd think that," Benji retorts.

"Are we ever gonna get over her?"

"It'd be pretty hard to get over her when all you do is think about her. You hang out with the girl she emotionally cheated on you with."

"I'm not just gonna stop hanging out with Chloe, Benji."

"I'm not saying you should, all I'm saying is that you're just constantly remind of her."

"What, so you're just saying I should get rid of anything that reminds me of Beca?"

"Well... that's not a bad idea."

"Wait... Benji... you're a genius!"

"What are you gonna do."

"I'll tell you after, for now, I just have to go get ready."

In his rush, Jesse made sure to text Chloe.

_"Get everything you have that reminds you of Beca. Big or small. Meet me in the woods behind the chem building in two hours. That little clearing, it's not too far in. It's that big open space."_

_"What are we doing?"_

_"Just trust me, I'll see you there."_

_"Ok."_

* * *

Chloe wasn't quite sure what she was doing. All she knew was she was holding a cardboard box. In that box, was everything she owned that reminded her of Beca. Naturally, it was full to the brim. What she would be doing with it, she had no idea. Though the smell of smoke and sight of bright orange flames certainly had her intrigued.

"What is all this?" Chloe asked.

"This is a bonfire."

"Well right, I get that," Chloe responded, confused, "but why are we having a bonfire?"

"We are going to burn the ghost of Beca Mitchell."

"What do you mean?"

"In these boxes, we have everything that reminds us of Beca Mitchell. We are going to burn it. We're going to prove that we don't need her anymore, we're going to get rid of everything that haunts us because of her. Would you like me to demonstrate?"

"Ok."

Jesse reached into his box and pulled a DVD box.

"This," Jesse instructed, "is my copy of _The Breakfast Club_. It's the only movie Beca ever liked, and now I can't watch it without thinking of her. So you know what I'm gonna do?"

Chloe stared ahead, still unsure of what exactly what was going on.

"I'm going to drop it into the fire and let it burn."

With that, Jesse tossed it into the flames and let it engulf the memory he and Beca forged together.

"And there goes _The Breakfast Club_. Do you want to try?"

"I guess," Chloe said, still somewhat unsure. She reached into her box and pulled out a Barden hoodie, clearly too small for her. It was obviously Beca's, somehow left behind in Chloe's room.

"This is Beca's Barden hoodie. She forgot it at my place before she left, now I can't go in my closet without seeing it and thinking about her. So I should just throw it in the fire?"

Jesse nodded, so she obeyed. She couldn't help but feel a twinge of excitement when she saw the sparks fly.

"That was actually oddly satisfying."

"I knew this would work," Jesse smugly complemented himself.

The next half hour or so followed a specific format. Jesse reached into his box, described something that reminded him of Beca, and then let it burn. Chloe followed in the same fashion. There were USBs with mixes, programs from the ICCA finals, more articles of clothing, even Jesse's copy of The Hobbit (for obvious reasons). As each item burned, Chloe felt another piece of herself being liberated from the chains Beca forced upon her. Jesse ran out of items first, so Chloe had several turns in a row, eventually she reached the final item in her box, but paused, unable to finish the job.

"Is your box empty?"

"No, I um, have one more thing."

"So what are you waiting for? Throw it in the fire!"

"I... I don't know if I can."

"What is it?"

"It's the letter Beca wrote before she left."

"Shouldn't that be the thing you most want to get rid of?"

"It's not that easy Jesse, to just completely get rid of everything that reminds me of her."

"Come on Chloe, I did it, you have to do it too."

After that, Chloe snapped.

"Just shut up Jesse!"

"Chloe-"

"No Jesse, I just can't take it. We don't all heal so quickly, let me get over this at my own pace. How are you taking this so well? How are you always so ready to help me? Why doesn't this hurt you as much as it hurts me? It's agonizing, how the hell are you ok?"

"Chloe I just want to help you-"

"Oh bullshit. Bullshit! Just tell me, how are you doing all of this? How can you just continue to put your own pain aside to try to help me? I can't take it anymore!"

Jesse looked devastated. Tears were obviously on the way.

"Helping you makes it easier to convince myself that I'm ok," he says, choking through the tears. With that, he turns around and walks away.


	7. Chapter 6

**Good news for the few people who are reading this and not Fix Me, that story is done, and now this one has my full attention. Considering the considerably shorter chapter length, I should be able to put out four or five updates per week until this one is done (and really, I have no idea how long it'll be). Anyway, enough stalling, here's the next chapter, enjoy!**

* * *

Chloe couldn't quite describe how she felt after she watched Jesse walk away. It was an odd mix of dumbfounded, guilty, angry, and even a bit heartbroken (though she'd never admit it). She knew it was her fault, and her opinion of herself at the moment wasn't particularly good to start with. It took her a few moments to realize that she should probably put out the fire before she leaves herself. Noticing the small fire extinguisher Jesse brought with him, she turns it onto the flames and puts out the fire containing all of her memories of Beca. She had to admit, before her little breakdown, the whole thing had been rather satisfying.

The walk back to her dorm is cold, depressing, and particularly lonely. Sure, loneliness wasn't something new to her of late, but this was different. She no longer felt like she had someone to go to when she felt bad. That left a few unappealing options. She could dump this on one of the Bellas, but even though they were her friends she'd never really considered any of them confidantes. She could call Aubrey, but who knows if she'd even answer. Her parents were out of the question, as they were away on vacation and even if they weren't this wasn't the kind of thing Chloe typically spoke with them about.

She eventually decided to take a chance on Aubrey, picking it as the best of a bad group of options. The ringing was agonizing, and by around the third or fourth she recognized that Aubrey wouldn't pick up.

"Hi this is Aubrey Posen, please leave a message after the beep!"

"Hey Aubrey, it's Chloe. I just... I think I messed up tonight, and I could really use someone to talk to. So could you maybe call me when you get a chance? Thanks."

Chloe sighed heavily as she fell into her bed. She knew she had to fix this, and soon. This was the last thing she needed hanging over her head. Ultimately she was left with two options, go talk to Jesse, or go get so drunk that she forgot why she felt this way in the first place.

Getting drunk is what the old Chloe would do. Well... not THAT old... but a few months ago. In fact, it's what she wanted to do. But she couldn't help but imagine Jesse in his room, alone, maybe crying, and feel guilty. She decided she had to fix this, even if it would be uncomfortable. Besides, it might give her some closure on what she was about to begin with.

* * *

Jesse walked home and slammed the door behind him as he entered his room. Benji, sensing that something was wrong, decided to go try to talk to him.

"What happened?"

"What do you mean what happened?"

"You seem pissed."

"Is that really you're business?"

"Yes it is. Now are you gonna tell me or should I just leave you here to wallow in your own self pity."

"I'd probably prefer to wallow, but I don't think you're really giving me the option are you."

"Nope."

"All I'll say is that me and Chloe had a fight."

"A fight? Over the fire?"

"Yes, over the fire."

"Be more specific."

"No."

"Come on Jesse."

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Fine, but this isn't over."

Benji left, deciding Jesse really could use some space. He'd try again tomorrow when Jesse had some time to think this over. What he didn't expect though, was to hear knocking on his door around an hour later. When he saw Chloe waiting behind it, he felt fairly conflicted.

"Hi Benji, is Jesse here?"

"He is, but I'm not sure if he wants to talk to you."

"Come on Benji I really want to apologize."

"Fine, but if he asks I put up a better fight."

Chloe smiled and gave a nod before heading to Jesse's room. She gave a few knocks before opening the door, not waiting for a response. This was a Chloe staple, no matter who she was seeing.

"Jesse?"

"What do you want?" Jesse responded angrily.

"I just want to talk."

"I don't think we have much to talk about."

"Come on Jesse I'm really trying here. Can I sit down."

"Whatever."

Chloe took a seat on Jesse's bed next to him as he continued to mope.

"So... I think I should start by saying I'm sorry."

"Probably a good starting point."

"I really am sorry though Jesse," Chloe said sincerely, "I shouldn't have snapped at you like that."

"No, you shouldn't have."

"It's just... well... I don't know how you do it Jesse. I know you're just as hurt as I am, maybe even more so, but you still manage to keep it together so well. And you've been so amazing to me Jesse, like, I can't even describe it. You probably shouldn't have even agreed to talk to me in the first place, but you did, just like you are right now. I keep screwing up and you keep trying to help me. Even if it helps you, I can't tell you how much it means to me. I couldn't ask for a better friend."

"Thank you."

"So does this mean we're ok?"

"I guess it does."

"There's something else Jesse," Chloe said, reaching into her pocket, "I brought the letter."

"What?" This got his attention, he sat up and looked at Chloe.

"Yea, I brought it with me. I know it's not as metaphorical or appropriate or anything, but," Chloe ripped the letter in half, "I still thought you might like to see me get rid of it."

"Wow, you actually did it didn't you?"

"Well obviously Jesse," Chloe laughs, "you literally just saw me rip it in half."

"Thanks Chloe, it means a lot."

"You're welcome. So, do you think we can go back to normal?"

"I'd like that. I do have to be honest about something."

"Really? What?"

"Well... at first helping you really did make it easier to convince myself that I was doing ok. But as time has passed... I think I've actually started to really get better. I know I've been trying to help you, but you've really helped me too. I've just... even if the circumstances haven't been great... I just really like hanging out with you."

Chloe smiled, slowly and subconsciously moving closer to Jesse. She wasn't quite sure what she was doing, she was just following the impulses of her body.

"Me too," Jesse, silently taking the hint, moved in as well. Their eyes closed as their lips met softly. They stayed connected for a few seconds before both backed out gracefully.

"Did we really just kiss?" Chloe asked.

"I think we just kissed," Jesse confirmed.

"Umm... wow."

"Yea, I'm not quite sure what to say either."

"Tell each other how you feel!" Benji shouted through the door.

"Benji?" Chloe asked in shock.

"Have you been eavesdropping?"

"Is that really what you should be concerned with right now?" He shouts, once again without bothering to open the door.

"Damn, he's right."

"So... what do you think Jesse?"

"I really don't know what to think. I mean, I really like you. That's a start isn't it?"

"I really like you too," Chloe confirms.

"Just so we're clear... do we mean... 'like' like, or just like?"

"I haven't the foggiest idea."

"Me neither."

"Are either of us healthy enough for this?" Chloe asks, "I mean... just think about how we started hanging out. We've been trying to get over the same person, I mean... for that alone we should probably hate each other. Are either of us in a position where we should be dating anybody, much less each other?"

"I really don't know."

They sat in silence on Jesse's bed, trying to figure out what exactly they felt for each other.

"Well... you did just kiss me."

"What?"

"You kissed me... shouldn't that say something?"

"Well you kissed me back," Chloe retorted.

"I know. I mean... doesn't that show that there's something here? I don't know what, but it's something isn't it?"

"I guess it is."

The silence resumes as they once again try to figure out what that last bit of back and forth meant.

"I really do like you Jesse," Chloe says softly, "like... a lot."

"Me too."

"So at least we're on the same page there."

"I think we should try this," Jesse says defiantly, "I mean... I know it's unconventional, but we clearly have feelings for each other. Why can't that be enough?"

"Well... there is the Beca of it all."

"Chloe... Beca's gone. She's not coming back, and like it or not, she's probably going to find someone new. But I'm here. And so are you. Maybe this is what we needed after all. I mean obviously not right away, because we barely knew each other, but maybe this can finally help us get over her. And honestly Chloe, you're kind of awesome."

"You're pretty awesome yourself," Chloe smiles.

"Let's do this Chloe," Jesse says convincingly, "I think this can work."

Chloe's smile grew bigger and bigger with each word.

"Ok," she confirms, "let's do this."


End file.
